


Of Witches and Magic

by PalauMaggot



Series: Coming Into His Own [1]
Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: BAMF Stiles, F/M, Kidnapping, M/M, Magic!Stiles, Magical Stiles Stilinski, Slow Build, Withdrawal
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-05-09
Updated: 2014-05-09
Packaged: 2018-01-24 02:49:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 14,395
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1588856
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PalauMaggot/pseuds/PalauMaggot
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Stiles knew not to give her anything. Words have power and the less she hears him say the better, “What do you want.” The only reason why a witch this powerful would take time to track him down was to steal his power. He could only hope and wait for one of the pack to come and find him. Preferably one of the ones with claws.</p>
<p>The witch crossed her arms and let her smile turn into a smirk, “Come now Stiles.” Her eyes flashed when she saw his reaction to his name, “We haven’t got all day. Besides I would rather not use any excess energy to slap one of your dogs on their noses. It’s really too troublesome and they’ll get hurt.” She uncrossed her arms and stepped forward, “You know what I want.”</p>
<p>Stiles took a deep breath and let it out slowly, “Alright then.” He rolled his shoulders and shifted his feet into his stance, “Let’s get this over with shall we?”</p>
            </blockquote>





	Of Witches and Magic

Stiles sighed into his math textbook as he watched the clock count down slowly. He was already ahead of most of the class and didn’t really need to take it. It was more of a requirement that needed filler until he could get to college.

He had much more interesting things on his mind anyways. Like mythical creatures that weren’t quite so mythical and how to control his weird wizard powers.

…You’re a wizard Harry…

The teenager closed his eyes in annoyance when he had the want to watch the entire Harry Potter series over again. Last time he did that he ended up eating all of the popcorn and frozen burritos. Fortunately the popcorn was pre-popped. Unfortunately the burritos weren’t unfrozen.

He ended up sitting in front of his TV eating a frozen burrito with a blanket wrapped around him.

His dad might or might not have given him a certain look when he came home from work but Stiles didn’t care. It wasn’t as bad when the sheriff had walked in on him crying over The Notebook.

Oh look at that, the clock went forward a few minutes. Stiles turned his attention back to the teacher as he started writing something else on the board and then glanced out the window. Stiles blinked when he felt the bottom of his stomach drop. He slowly straightened his back and turned back towards the front of the class.

He knows that he should trust the vibes that he feels. The ‘let’s see how you feel about magic’ sessions with Deaton made sure of that.

He kind of wishes that he made the damn decision already and gave Deaton a solid answer of ‘Yes! I want to be your apprentice!’ instead of a ‘Do you think I could levitate a pencil and get money?’

The bell rang and Stiles was suddenly not as happy to be leaving school as he originally thought. He took his time packing up his things and shot off a quick text to Scott, telling him about the vibe. The brunet walked slowly to his locker and kept his focus on where this vibe was coming from.

When he was done at his locker he noticed that he was one of the last few students in the hallways, all the others gone to home or to sports. The teen quickly made his way to the parking lot to leave. He probably should have been paying more attention to his actual surroundings instead of where the vibe felt the worst.

Speaking of, it suddenly felt like his stomach was a black hole.

“What do we have here?” The voice was silky smooth and had a hint of something Stiles couldn’t put a name to. 

He turned around and faced the woman who was standing about twenty feet away from him. He could tell she was a magical user just from the electricity in the air. Stiles dropped his backpack to the floor and kept a steady gaze on her, “This is a werewolf pack territory. What do you want?”

She was quiet for a few seconds before smiling again at him, “Naivety is overdone these days sweetheart. But I have to say that you wear it well. You’re like a little kitten staring down an eagle.”

Stiles knew not to give her anything. Words have power and the less she hears him say the better, “What do you want.” The only reason why a witch this powerful would take time to track him down was to steal his power. He could only hope and wait for one of the pack to come and find him. Preferably one of the ones with claws.

The witch crossed her arms and let her smile turn into a smirk, “Come now Stiles.” Her eyes flashed when she saw his reaction to his name, “We haven’t got all day. Besides I would rather not use any excess energy to slap one of your dogs on their noses. It’s really too troublesome and they’ll get hurt.” She uncrossed her arms and stepped forward, “You know what I want.”

Stiles took a deep breath and let it out slowly, “Alright then.” He rolled his shoulders and shifted his feet into his stance, “Let’s get this over with shall we?”

She didn’t give him and answer, only threw her hands forward sending her magic at him.

Stiles barely had enough time to put up a wall. He grunted and tried to focus his energy back to her but the amount she was giving was too much. He grunted and sent out a mental SOS to his pack hoping one of them would get there in time.

The witch laughed at him, “Oh Stiles, you think you can hold on until they get here? You cute little kitten!” She twisted one of her wrists and closed her eyes.

Stiles gasped when he felt a tugging sensation in his chest. He tried to keep up the wall but his concentration wavered and he felt drained. 

His blood ran cold. She was draining him. He could feel it all leaving him and going towards her hand. Stiles grunted and tried to pull it back, ‘It’s mine! NO!’ He heard her let out a small laugh but stayed focused on his own energy.

She opened her eyes and pulled harder, “You think training wheels can go up against a monster truck?” She watched Stiles fall to his knees and then to his hands to gasp for air, “I’m not just taking your magic Stiles. I’m taking your life force as well.”

And boy could he feel it. He let out a scream when he felt a rather harsh tug. He could feel his consciousness fading fast. But the next thing he knew he was lying down on the concrete facing up, paralyzed and in a major amount of pain.

“Jesus Christ Stilinski, What the fuck?!”

The last thought that he had was a confused: ‘Isn’t he supposed to be in London?’ Before darkness covered him like a blanket.

~~~

“You said he passed out when you got there?”

Stiles came around to voices, one belonging to a long lost frenemy and the other to his pseudo teacher – which he should change to legit teacher as soon as possible.

The one thing he immediately noticed was that he was completely paralyzed. He couldn’t even move his eyes. 

“Yeah, I heard a scream so I went to see what was going on, I see some lady grinning like a mad woman and Stiles falling to the floor.”

The ceiling could only be so interesting after all. Stiles was stuck. 

“And he’s been like this since you got to him right?”

Oh, how long had he been like this and did Jackson have to carry him?! Talk about emasculating.

“Yeah, unfocused eyes and not moving. What’s going on?”

Okay that sounded like caring. He guessed they’re in the friend part of their frenemyship at the moment. Jackson was always a hard one to read. 

Deaton came into his sightline and Stiles tried his best to communicate in any way but nothing was listening to him. 

“It looks like he’s stuck in a loop.”

Shit.

“Loop?”

No that’s not right.

“Yes, it should be relatively easy to knock him out of it, I just need the right things.”

You aren’t conscious when you’re in a loop. You’re reliving things and in a state of catatonia. 

He needed to find a way of getting that information out there. But how? If Deaton uses the wrong things then either one of them could be in serious trouble. 

Stiles saw out of the peripherals of his eyes that the emissary was leaning close with a substance on a popsicle stick. Fuck. Fuck no no no. If he kills Jackson, Lydia would have his head. He can’t kill any one. He has to find a way to get it through to them. 

He yelled in his mind, telling them to stop. That it wasn’t right. He’s not in a loop. That’s going to hurt them.

‘DON’T TOUCH ME’

Deaton and Jackson fell back as a burst of light came from the still body, effectively knocking the stick out of Deaton’s hand. The vet blinked in slight surprise.

“What the hell was that?!”

Deaton got up from the ground and looked into Stiles’ blank eyes, “That was a warning.” He said lightly tapping the boy’s cheek.

Jackson looked at Deaton and then back down to Stiles, “For what?”

Deaton gave Jackson a small smile, “Us. I believe Mr. Stilinski just saved our lives.”

If Stiles could fist pump he would.

Jackson blinked and looked back down to the body, “So what’s wrong with him?”

Deaton sighed and put his stuff away, “You should go to the pack and warn them that a very powerful witch is in town. If you wish to tell them about Stiles then go ahead but I must warn you that I will be in a state of meditation in order to communicate with Stiles. I won’t be able to break the seal for you to get back here.”

Jackson nodded and turned away to leave but stopped, “Do you think he can hear us?”

Deaton nodded, “I am sure of it.”

Stiles knew that the jock’s face turned into a specific emotion. The emotion that he liked to call “The Jackass.” 

“Saving your ass was not the first thing that I wanted to do when I got back into town, Stilinski.” 

Stiles heard footsteps and then a jingle that signaled the front door had moved. More footsteps followed and then Deaton was back in his line of sight, “I am only going to be able to keep this line of communication open for a limited time. I need you to tell me exactly what happened when I say go.”

Stiles felt the hand cup his neck and then another on his chest above where his spark would be. A voice that wasn’t his own sounded through his mind ‘Go.’

And so Stiles let his mind do the talking about what had happened.

¬¬¬¬~~~

Deaton sighed as he sat back from the paralyzed boy. He ran a hand over his eyes and tapped his fingers on his forehead, thinking, “I think I know what she did to you. After Jackson interrupted the battle she forced you into this state so you wouldn’t fight back when she returned.”

If Stiles could roll his eyes he would have, ‘Oh yeah because that’s fair.’

Deaton walked over towards his cabinet and searched through his things, “I’m going to have to give you something to ingest. The effects of that spell should wear off quickly.” He took out a small vile with bluish liquid in it and a dropper.

Stiles couldn’t wait to get out of the paralysis but when the bitter tasting liquid hit his tongue he kind of wished to stay in that state. A tingling sensation started at his stomach and spread out through his fingers and he found that he could wiggle his toes.

Slowly his body started responding to him and he managed to blink and look at Deaton. He was able to give a small nod in thanks before a loud bang was heard.

“Deaton!”

Stiles could feel a small smile on his lips at his best friend’s voice and followed the vet with his eyes as he left the room. Stiles continued to wiggle his fingers and toes to get the feeling back and hopefully speed up the process.

There was a small breeze which made the human glance back up and see his friend right beside him, “Heh- Sco-” Apparently he couldn’t quite talk yet either. Stiles closed his mouth and eyes and concentrated, “…Hey Scott.” He tried again and smiled brightly when it came out right. He could move his hands now.

Scott turned his worried gaze to Deaton, “What happened to him?”

The vet gestured to the semi-paralyzed boy, “He ran into a powerful witch. He came out very lucky actually. He’s just starting to gain back control right now.” He put his potion back on his shelf and turned back towards Stiles who was now trying to sit up with Scott’s help.

The human blinked and furrowed his eyebrows, “I…. think I wan… want to start tr-trai….training.” He looked up at Deaton, waiting for his response.

The older nodded back to Stiles and went forward to help Scott lift him off of the table, “We can start tomorrow.”

Scott shook his head at his friend and started towards the exit, “You know Jackson was freaking out when he came to find us?”

“Was not.”

Stiles almost jumped. He probably would have if he had full control of his body. Both Jackson and Derek were waiting in the uncomfortable chairs outside the back office, “What arrr.. are you…?” He didn’t bother completing his sentence. They were big boys, they could figure it out.

Scott squeezed him slightly where he was holding Stiles up, “You’re pack dude.”

Jackson stood up and shrugged, “I carried your ass here, had to make sure that it wasn’t for nothing.”

Derek stood up quietly giving him that worried/disappointed/constipated look. He still wasn’t sure what the look was supposed to mean.

Stiles probably would have laughed out loud at his own thought but since he was still semi paralyze-drunk all he managed was a small smile, “Aww, you do ca…care.” He swallowed down his embarrassment of stutters and continued to try to walk with Scott.

“What can you tell us about this witch?”

Stiles gave Derek an unimpressed look, “Can it wai-wait unnn..until I can ta…talk better?” He could feel the improvement but it would probably take another hour before he would be back to himself anyways. Stiles took a deep breath and continued to walk with Scott, “You cannn come wi… with if you guys wannn… want.”

Jackson looked torn for a second before Stiles waved his hand, “Not you. Go fi- find Lyd.”

Derek on the other hand went to Stiles’ other side to help Scott and this caused the sandwiched boy to roll his eyes, “Mmmm not fi-five hunn …dred pou…pounds.” 

Derek didn’t want to let anyone know it was just to reassure himself that Stiles was okay.

The two wolves ignored him and continued their trek to the Camaro together. 

‘Assholes.’ Stiles thought to himself.

¬¬¬~~~

Throughout the next hour Stiles was able to gain most of his control back. He still had a slight stutter on his ‘Ms’ and ‘Ns’ but besides that he was okay.

So of course Derek wanted him to start talking. Scott did too but he was nicer about it.

“We’re just looking out for you dude, if we know what she looks like we know who to avoid!”

“Or to kill.”

Stiles sighed again and rested his head on his arms, “She’s a lot more powerful thannn you guys, Derek.” He lifted his head and took a sip of water from the glass in front of him, “You’d be better off avoiding her and preten-, pretending that you don’t know who she is.”

Scott sat down next to his best friend and gave him the patented worried look, seriously he would probably make an awesome mother, “What did she do to you?”

Stiles felt both pairs of eyes on him even as he kept his eyes on his glass, “She tried to take my power and, by extension, mmmy life force.” Stiles unconsciously rubbed his chest and cleared his throat, “She’s really powerful but I don’t think that all of that power is hers. I thinnnk she’s stolen it from a lot of other people.”

Derek pointed his glare to the ground, “So we find her and kill her so she won’t try to again.” 

It was foolproof. Not. 

Stiles smiled and rolled his eyes, “It’s not that simm...ple.” He stood up and walked over to get a pad of paper and pencil. He also chose to ignore the hovering Scotty-dog padding along behind him.

Hah. Scotty dog.

He made his way back to the table and sat down but not before shooting a look at his friend. The paper wasn’t actually for explaining, he just wanted something to do.

He started talking and doodling at the same time, “Right now she has some of my own power.” He was making sure to talk slowly and not to stutter, “She was able to put a simple curse on me when Jackson found us and hoped that I would be easily um, take-able.” He made a face at his own word choice and shook his head.

Scott crossed his arms and glanced at Derek who returned the look.

“With that curse she was also able to put a lock on me.” Stiles stopped doodling and started tapping the pencil against the table, “That means that she can come and find me where ever I’m at.” He continued quietly.

Both wolves let out a growl. 

Stiles glanced up and then back down, “But the good news is that my power is back already so it would take her longer than before to take it ann…nyways.” He was also lucky in that his spark regenerates faster than a normal one.

Deaton had explained that one to him one day when he was playing with fire, literally. One moment he felt drained and the next he was ready to go.

It took Deaton by surprise and Stiles will forever remember that face on the veterinarian. 

“Why are you smiling?! This is serious Stiles!”

Oh yeah, possibility of death and all that jazz.

Stiles sipped from his water again before standing up, “Then let’s go back to Deaton and get a head start on those lessons?” He was feeling a lot better now, and he didn’t have to make much of an effort to not stutter in that sentence.

Derek paused, “I don’t know if you should push yourself so fast.” Was that worry in his tone?

Scott made to agree before Stiles interrupted his sentence.

“I have an evil powerful witch on my ass who knows where I am at all times and can come for me at any moment.” Stiles raised his eyebrows at the taller man, “I think I need to start those lessons as soon as possible.”

Scott glanced back at Derek before half-shrugging, “He does have a point.”

Derek rolled his eyes and walked towards the door, “Fine but I’m driving.”

Best friend eye roll combo x2.

~~~

Deaton had been a little surprised but overall had expected it to happen. They had a small session, Deaton somewhat teaching Stiles counter spells and better blocking abilities. The vet gave Stiles a charm to wear around his neck to help enhance his own abilities.

As soon as the gem hit his skin he felt his senses sharpen and he was able to hone in on his own spark better. Stiles felt hyper aware of everything, “Whoa.”

Deaton tilted his head with a small smile, “I take it that did something. Your energies are more aligned than before.”

Stiles was bouncing a little on his toes and he nodded, “Yeah, it’s like… everything is… it’s like I wasn’t wearing glasses when I needed them.” He glanced down to his hand and then back up to the vet, “Can I try it again?”

Deaton nodded, “But be careful. You are more focused and it usually takes magic users a long time to reach alignment.”

Stiles nodded and took a small breath; he remembered that both Derek and Scott were in the front room. He heard muffled murmurs and he felt curious about what they were talking about for a few seconds. He froze when he could hear them clearly.

“I still don’t like it. We should be going after her. She attacked Stiles and he is on her radar.”

“We should still listen to him when he says that it’s too dangerous Derek. We don’t really know much about this magic stuff.”

There was a grunt that Stiles could only guess came from Derek and he was suddenly pulled back to the room with Deaton when a hand gently touched his shoulder.

“Stiles? Are you okay?”

The teen nodded and smiled to himself, “I just enhanced my hearing.” He said with slight awe.

Deaton stepped back with a lightly confused look, “That’s interesting.” He turned to one of his bookshelves and took one out to leaf through it.

While he did that Stiles tried enhancing something again. He had this sudden feeling of someone coming into the front office, “Lydia and… Jackson?” Even though he said it under his breath Deaton still heard it and glanced up.

The vet was about to say something else when the front door jingled. He closed the book slowly and went to the front room.

Stiles wasn’t sure if he wanted to be right or not. He ran a hand through his hair before following after Deaton into the front room and lo and behold there was Lydia and Jackson.

Both Derek and Scott were looking at him weirdly as Deaton conversed with the two new comers. Stiles looked back at them and shrugged. He didn’t know what was going on. 

In other news Lydia looked pissed.

Stiles inched to just behind Scott for protection when the angered gazed turned to him. He faintly registered with his advanced state of mind that Derek stepped forward as if to shield him from the girl.

“And you! How could you think to go up against a witch?! Especially when you’re not trained at all!” She had started to go forward (probably to scratch out his eyes with her perfectly manicured nails. Yes he could smell the fresh coats of red paint on them and he doesn’t know why because he’s not actively trying to enhance anything.) but was stopped by Deaton’s arm.

“Lydia, Stiles didn’t go looking for a fight, she found him and he just tried to protect himself. It wasn’t his fault.”

Stiles stayed behind Scott as he thought about it, ‘Well, I technically followed the feeling so I did go looking for her but I won’t tell them about that so yeah! Completely innocent here!’

After some calming words and assurances that Lydia wouldn’t be killing Stiles anytime soon they all left the office so Deaton could talk more with Stiles alone.

“You are able to enhance your senses by will now you said? And I noticed that you sensed Lydia and Jackson before they had actually showed up.”

Stiles nodded and sat down in one of the chairs again, “Yeah, So is that weird or bad or good?”

Deaton went back to his book and flipped through again. He reached the spot that he was looking for and read the passage through before glancing back up at the teenager.

They sat in silence for a few seconds, Deaton’s stare unwavering and Stiles uncomfortably trying to keep the eye contact.

“Soooo…” Stiles fiddled with his thumbs before dropping his eyes to his lap. This was super uncomfortable. To the max.

Deaton set the book down on the table and took a small breath. He closed his eyes and tilted his head up towards the ceiling, “Stiles.”

Stiles glanced up to the vet.

“You are a very gifted person. And we cannot let you get into the hands of that witch.”

Stiles watched Deaton as he opened his eyes and looked into his own. There was a heavy silence and the teenager knew that he had to read whatever the vet had just read. 

The elder pushed the book towards Stiles and walked over to his shelves again, pulling out random herbs and spices.

Stiles read the passage over again after he was done, and then again to make sure he got everything, “So… I have an unlimited supply of energy and unique mind powers?”

Deaton shook his head, “Not unlimited. You just recover at a very high rate. Most need a night to recover depending on how much they have depleted their stores.” He walked back from his shelf and sprinkled some of the mixture on Stiles making the boy blink and stare at Deaton in confusion, “This will help keep you hidden from her tracker. It will confuse the signal and give us more time to think of a solution.”

Stiles swallowed around his very dry mouth and nodded, “Anything else I should know before I head out?”

Deaton fixed him with a stare, “Stay safe. Under no circumstances must she find out about what you are.”

“And what am I?”

The vet glanced down at the pendent that Stiles now wore, “You are very special.” He reached into his coat pocket and dialed a number before holding it up to his ear, “You should also try to have someone with you at all times until she is gone.”

Stiles let himself fall into the chair behind him and let out a deep sigh, “Okay. Right.”

~~~

A week had passed by surprisingly quietly. Stiles had been going to Deaton’s every day to work on his concentration and spells. The vet had said that it wasn’t a normal training because of the circumstances and that there were many different rules to spells and casting. But he never taught the teenager anything unless it had to do with the spell that he was learning.

Stiles didn’t particularly mind that he had a simpler schooling, it gave him less to remember with all of the technical workings of spells and enchantments.

He was done with another session which was focusing on his meditation when he got the text.

‘Jackson attacked. @ Dereks.’

Needless to say, Stiles raced to the apartment.

When he got there and forced the door open, he could feel the workings of a spell inside of the house. ‘Shit.’ He carefully walked through to the stairs where he could hear the sounds of struggling in one of the rooms.

Lydia and Allison were both waiting outside of the room, Lydia looking on worriedly and Allison had her bow out but not aimed as of yet.

He reached the door, nodded at the two girls and took stock of what was happening in the room.

Jackson was more or less flipping his shit. Derek and Scott both being wolfed out were trying to hold him down and get him calm. It wasn’t really working since Jackson was feral.

Stiles took a steadying breath before closing his eyes and reaching out with his energy to test the spell surrounding the jock. As soon as he touched it, Jackson fought back with renewed vigor.

“Double Shit.” Stiles was going to have to get closer and get actual contact with the crazed werewolf, “Okay, I’m gonna try something, make sure he doesn’t kill me.” He stepped forward a few feet before stopping, “Ready?”

Derek stared for a few moments after Scott nodded, “Be careful.”

“Yes sir.” Stiles gave them a small smile, ignoring the feeling of Derek openly trusting him, before closing the distance and placing his hand on Jackson’s shoulder. He pushed through the barrier and started unthreading the spell from the wolf. Stiles could feel the confusion and slight terror from the actual Jackson. 

The teenager conveyed through the link that it would be okay and that he wasn’t turning back into the kanima while he sorted through the spell.

The relief that washed through the other side made Stiles relax a little, Jackson was still himself, he just wasn’t in control.

He was almost done countering the spell when it did something that he didn’t expect.

On the outside, Jackson was struggling less and less and when everything seemed to be going fine, Stiles was thrown back by an unseen force. He hit the wall and started screaming as he sank to the floor.

Derek and Scott shared a look before glancing down to the other who had finally came back to himself and was watching Stiles.

Derek let Lydia take his spot next to Jackson and shot over Stiles. The boy was arching his back in pain as he held his head tightly. The werewolf held him down from hurting himself now. “Stiles! What’s going on?!” He turned to Scott who was watching his friend, “Call Deaton.” 

Scott nodded, quickly pulled out his phone and left the room.

Derek tried taking some of the pain away but found that it was blocked. He growled to himself before yelling again, “Stiles! Fight back!” Derek felt his wolf whine about not being able to help.

Stiles was trapped in a loop of pain. As soon as he was done unweaving the spell from Jackson it had lashed out and grabbed onto Stiles evolving from a feral inducing to a pain inducing spell. He could also feel her presence, as if she was locating him with it.

Shit.

He stopped himself from screaming, barely hearing the alpha growl above him and grounded his self in reality. Stiles thought about the meditative exercises and blocked some of the pain so he could work on freeing himself. He grunted again and inhaled some air to hold it. 

Their minds were linked right now. And he could feel her slight confusion at his ability. He fought back and pushed the spell away from himself. Stiles allowed himself to feel a bit of pride at her now shock.

He was dimly aware of Deaton sitting next to him and holding onto his hand, trying to get into the mind link as well but Stiles figured that it was blocked off from everyone.

It was up to him. So he pushed back with all of his might.

With a final yell he was able to push the spell back to her through the link. Sure she could cancel it but Stiles knew that she would have to feel it first before she realized what was happening.

Stiles fell back against the wall exhausted and closed his eyes as he got his breathing under control. When he opened his eyes, he gave everyone a tired smile, “Wassup guys?”

Deaton looked around to everyone in the room and then back to Stiles, “What did you do with her spell?”

The teenager closed his eyes again, “I sent it back at her through the link, why?” The lack of response was what made him open his eyes again, “Why?”

Deaton sat back and looked to the floor, “That shouldn’t be possible.”

This intrigued him, “So then wait, why was I able to do it?” He vaguely realized that Derek’s hand was still on his shoulder but he dismissed for the more important things. And if the warmth from it made him feel safe then no one needed to know that either.

Deaton looked at Stiles and shook his head, “I’m not sure, it could be that since you don’t actually know what is supposed to be possible with spells you’re unconsciously finding loopholes through the rules.” 

A crash outside made everyone jump.

Stiles’s eyes widened, “She’s here.” He tried getting up but Derek’s hand kept him down.

The alpha flashed his eyes at the teen before shaking his head, “No, you stay inside and away from her. We can handle it.” 

Stiles blinked at the venom in the last four words but he knew it wasn’t directed at him, “Uhh, you’re gonna need me since she can literally Darth Vader you.”

Derek didn’t dignify him with a response before standing, “Scott, Allison you’re with me. Lydia stay with Jackson, he won’t be good to go for a little while.” With that he left the room. 

Scott gave Stiles a thumbs up before leaving behind Allison who had given him a small smile.

Stiles just shook his head and stood up, “Deaton you know that they aren’t going to be able to hold up against her. They’re gonna get killed.”

The vet turned his gaze to Jackson and Lydia who were now staring at him, “She can’t get a hold of you Mr. Stilinski. You’re power in her hands can spell doom for us all.”

He was cut off from his voice when a scream broke through the air. Jackson was out of the room in a flash and Lydia following close by.

Stiles was about to follow when a hand grabbed his arm, “Listen Deaton, I’m not going to let them die for me!” He pulled himself loose from the older magic user and ran through the door and down the stairs.

When he got to the outside he stopped and stared at the scene.

The witch was holding down everyone to the grass with one hand out in front of her. Her eyes flickered up to Stiles when he came out into the clearing and she smiled.

Stiles had his hands fisted at his sides and he was glaring at her, “Let them go, now.”

She simply lifted a single eyebrow and smiled, “No. And if you move,” she continued when she saw him start to walk forward, “I will kill them all, painfully.” A twitch of her finger had Scott howling.

Stiles glanced quickly at his best friend before holding up his hands, “Stop! Stop! What do you want?” He knew that she wasn’t giving empty threats. He knew that all of their lives were on his hands right now. 

Scott stopped howling and was left breathing deeply, letting out small whimpers.

“I want you Stiles. I want you to come with me quietly and without a fight.”

Stiles looked at all of his friends, his pack and then back to her, He opened his mouth to reply when a voice interrupted him.

“Don’t you dare Stiles.”

Stiles looked at Derek who had grunted out those words, he was glaring at him from the ground and winced when there was another harsh push against his back, “Don’t you dare go with her.”

Stiles glanced at the witch and then back to Derek, “But I have to don’t I? She’ll kill everyone in the pack if I don’t.”

Lydia piped up from behind and to his left, “She’s going to kill us all anyways.”

Jackson grunted in agreement from her side and struggled against the force-field that was holding him down, “I’ll hunt you down for your stupidity on this choice Stilinski.”

Scott simply grunted out, “Don’t do it.” And Allison was just pleading with her eyes, knowing that if his best friend’s words wouldn’t sway him then hers would do absolutely nothing.

Stiles fisted his hands again and turned to the witch, “You have to give me your word that you won’t hurt them in anyway if I go with you.” he ignored the shouts from his pack and kept his gaze on the witch.

She gave him a smile and nodded, “Of course. I won’t hurt them in anyway.” She lifted her spell and instead separated her and Stiles from the rest so they couldn’t attack.

Stiles knew it was a bubble when there were a few bangs against the invisible barrier. He looked back at his pack pounding at it. He gave them all a small smile and shrugged, “It was the only thing I could do.” He whispered.

Stiles felt a shift in the air and quickly linked up with the closest mind which had been Derek’s.

He felt the sudden emotions coming from the werewolf, loss, anger, helplessness, worry, terror. Stiles didn’t dwell on the emotions since he only had a few seconds before the transportation spell happened and conveyed his own thought.

‘Find me.’

And then the witch and Stiles were gone from the clearing.

~~~~

They appeared in a small room what had no windows, a mattress and random shelves of books. The witch placed two fingers on his heart and her other hand on his head. She gave him an evil smile and before Stiles had a chance to react he felt her sucking his magic away.

He grabbed onto her wrist and tried blocking her from it but she was already there and pulling on his spark.

“Oh you are an interesting one aren’t you!”

Stiles only barely heard her voice. It sounded like there was wind rushing in his ears and he felt himself start to sag under the weight of gravity. Small black spots started to swarm his vision. He gave one last grunt before falling to the floor.

The witch let him fall and broke her link to his power, “I think I’ll keep you around.” She leaned down and whispered in his ear, “Seeing as you’re one special spark.” 

Stiles didn’t know if she teleported out of there or if he blacked out fully but when he blinked she was gone. He crawled his way to the mattress in the corner and collapsed onto it. Tears stung from behind his eyes when he thought about his pack.

His last thought of ‘They’ll find me.’ Lulled him back into unconsciousness.

The witch waited until he was completely passed out to re-enter the room. She set a candle on the top of the shelf and lit it. She smirked at him before leaving again and locking the door behind her. ‘I won’t have to steal from anymore witches if he continues to recover that quickly.’

An idea in her mind made her start to think up some spells, ‘If I can continuously syphon his energy he won’t get a chance to recuperate and then I can use his ability as my own.’ She continued to smirk as she read through her spell books, ‘I’m sure I have something that will work…’

~~~

Derek paced his room length trying to think of some way to find Stiles. The whole pack was there with him in the living room of his apartment but he knew that they had nothing. They were keeping an eye out for any strange happenings in the area around Beacon Hills.

Scott talked to Stiles’ dad and filled him in so the station was out looking for the missing kid as well. Scott asked his mother to help out with Mr. Stilinski and to make sure he stayed in good health.

Stiles would probably beat him up for letting his dad’s health sink while he was gone.

Allison had her own dad talk to their fellow hunters about a powerful witch and to let them know if anything happens.

Deaton was doing his best on finding Stiles but was coming up short with his spells, he had sent a message out to his contacts detailing the situation and all that was left to do was wait. The witch was lying low for now, most likely hoping for the pack to lose interest. 

It had been three weeks since Stiles and the witch had disappeared and they hadn’t seen anything that would classify as witch-y activity.

They were starting to lose hope.

Derek forced himself to join the others in the living room. He had to be a strong alpha for his pack right now. He had to show them that they could still find Stiles. Derek had to keep their belief up; otherwise they could lose out on a chance to save Stiles.

He entered the room and looked at his pack. They were all exhausted. Derek went to his kitchen to grab something to eat when Scott and Lydia came in. He gave them a look that said he was listening and went back to his fridge.

“Deaton called and said he might have found something.”

Now they had Derek’s full attention.

Lydia gave him a half smile before continuing, “He said that if any of us were able to find another witch, that witch could try to put a tracer on Stiles.”

Derek shook his head, “We shouldn’t trust any witches.”

Scott stepped forward, “But Stiles is a witch… sort of. And we trust him.”

The alpha shook his head; right now that word alone pissed him off. He was going to brush them off when he felt a hard punch to his shoulder. Derek glanced down to his arm and then to Lydia, surprise was very present on his features.

Lydia glared at him fiercely, “I don’t care what you think about this but if it means that we will find Stiles then I’m going to take it.”

Jackson was in the kitchen, watching from the doorway, just in case. He kept his eyes on Derek with his arms crossed but was on high alert for his girlfriend.

Derek schooled his features and closed his eyes, “Fine. But if there are any problems caused by this witch then Deaton will have to answer for them.” He wasn’t taking any chances again.

The three teenagers left the kitchen and Derek heard a few small beeps that told him they were calling the vet. He let his head rest against the fridge with his eyes closed. The link that Stiles had made with Derek for those few seconds pretty much ruined him. 

He felt Stiles’ fear and regret. But he also felt the boy’s love for the pack. Stiles was sure that Derek was going to find him. 

The only problem was that Derek wasn’t so sure about it.

He opened his eyes when he heard a car engine start and pushed away from the wall. While the others were going to Deaton and checking out that lead, Derek figured he could go for a run.

He needed to clear his head.

Derek walked through his house to the back, it was easier since it lead straight to the woods. He started picking up his pace until he was at his full speed and let his feet go their way through the trails that he’s known all his life.

Derek always loved running. It gave him a sense of freedom. He is able to clear his head of all the worry and confusion that he feels. Although with Stiles gone it wasn’t working quite as well as it should.

He was making his way along the outskirts of the property when he stumbled. Derek collapsed to his knees in shock. His mind was linked with someone else’s.

Someone who wasn’t in control.

Derek pushed through the fogginess of the other’s feelings to try and figure out what was going on.

Pain, anxiety, fear, need, despair, everything was coming at him at once. The werewolf sent calming thoughts, not exactly knowing how the links work, only that they were two-way and held onto his own side.

He felt the other start to calm down and then a small amount of confusion filtered through the link.

Derek stood up and sniffed. He started looking for whoever was linked up with him when the other sent a whole bunch of information, effectively flooring Derek again. The desperate feelings along with some words went through his mind this time. 

‘…Has me addicted… Can’t…. Weak… planning someth…. Derek, find me soon… can’t hold-’

The sudden silence of his mind caught his attention before he realized that it was Stiles on the other end. Derek quickly got up and started running. He sniffed the air for any trace of the boy and when he caught a scent he took off in that direction. When he got to the area where it Stiles’s smell was the most potent he also smelled a faint tinge of ozone.

He howled.

~~~

Stiles grunted in pain. He held his head in his hands which was bleeding from a blow from the witch and tried to focus on not passing out. 

After she had caught him, she transported them back to her lair. (yes it’s a lair, she’s an evil witch. It’s only fitting.) And then proceeded to ram his head against the wall.

“What do you think you’re doing? You know I can kill you without a second thought.” She was talking in a controlled and very terrifying manner. She grabbed his hair and pulled his head up so that she could talk into his ear, “And do you really think you can quit the candle cold turkey, little kitten?”

The witch threw his head down again and shoved him into the room that was his for the past few weeks.

As soon as he was inside, Stiles felt something lift off of his shoulder. His headache that he had before she injured him was gone and he was not as twitchy as before. The teenager glared at the candle on the shelf.

She explained it after the first time he tried escaping. She found him puking and shaking a few feet from the entrance of the lair.

It was a candle of her own making. The fumes it gave off as it burned had an addictive ingredient to it and since Stiles had been breathing in the tainted air for the past few weeks non-stop, he was very addicted.

The more he breathed in the less he was shaking from being out of the room for so long. Stiles wiped at his head so make sure that he stopped bleeding and let his hand drop to the mattress. 

He was so tired.

A week after he had been taken she linked their sparks together and fed off of his power constantly. She kept him at a reduced rate so that he wouldn’t be able to fight back.

The cost of doing that link had let Stiles into her mind though. He was able to feel her emotions and he could tell that she was planning something big after she depleted her own power and his in a few hours, the next day was the same, and it continued for a week before she gave herself a break.

She was creating an entirely new spell.

From what he remembered with Deaton, this was highly impossible and also against some sort of rule. Stiles is only guessing of course because who knows how many witches she had taken before she found him.

He felt a pull at his spark and grunted. When he was trying to get away he was able to put the constant pull out of his mind but now that he was back it was ever present again.

Stiles smiled a little bit when he remembered that he was able to link up with Derek. Now that was unexpected, he didn’t even realize that he was projecting while he was going through his withdrawals. The sudden calm thoughts threw him for a loop. When he realized it was Derek, he tried to convey everything he knew. 

The witch had managed to cut their link when she found him and teleported them out of there but it had already happened. And better yet, she didn’t know Derek was out there.

She didn’t know that he had enough power to connect with someone even with her constantly stealing it. (He didn’t either but now he does so ha.) 

That meant that Stiles had reserves. That meant that Stiles can fight back. Unfortunately that also meant that Stiles had to figure out how to get into his reserves before he could fight back. But hey, baby steps.

Stiles let his eyes close and figured that when he rested a bit he could practice. He already figured how make the link one way as long as it kept up with his transfer of energy. 

He had also been reading the various books on the shelves when he could. Stiles had soaked up the knowledge, hoping anything would help him. He stopped reading at keywords like ‘do not’ or ‘avoid’ just in case if he became aware of the rules then he wouldn’t be able to find a loophole. 

Stiles blinked open his eyes sluggishly and looked to the candle. It was about halfway down and she would be changing it out soon to keep him addicted.

He narrowed his eyes at the wax stick before closing them again. 

If he did manage to get out, he would definitely need some medical help with the withdrawals. Especially if they were that bad. 

Stiles breathed in before closing his eyes again. He needed to think more about everything before he decided to act on it. After all he didn’t want to die after holding out this long.

And if it didn’t work, Derek will find him.

An unconscious smile flitted across his face as he thought of his pack.

Yeah, they’ll save him.

The door opened and he kept his eyes closed, just opting to listen to her angered footsteps around the room. Playing opossum was the smartest thing to do in his situation. She knew how much she takes out of him so whenever he is legitimately passed out she leaves him be.

Stiles knows that she isn’t willing to risk her new source of power, ‘Hmm… maybe I can use that to my advantage…’

~~~

“You’re sure it was Stiles?”

“Yes, I know it was him.”

Scott paced the small room as Deaton examined Derek’s head. He was ecstatic that his best friend was able to get out but the fact that he was transported again makes him very uneasy, “How do you know for sure though? You said it was just a whole bunch of emotions?”

Derek scowled at Scott before keeping his eyes on the wall, “He told me idiot. He also said my name.”

Deaton went from the werewolf to his cabinet and nodded, “What I’m surprised about is how he managed to create a link since I’m sure that the witch is draining him.”

Derek furrowed his eyebrows and thought back to what he felt, “I don’t think he meant to do it at first. It seemed like he was going through something and after I tried calming him down he realized we were connected.”

Deaton nodded again and placed his hands on the desk. It was quiet in the office for a while before he spoke up again, “Derek, I know you don’t really have a trust in witches right now but I do think that Aliyah will be able to find Stiles.”

Derek’s eyes flashed at the mention of ‘witch’ but he forced himself to see reason. Stiles wasn’t going to be able to hold out much longer. When the witch is done with him, she will kill him, “I’ve already made clear my opinion on the matter.”

“So then am I gonna have to fight you or am I good to go Mr. wolf?”

Both wolves jumped at the sudden appearance of the small witch. She had a small bag on her arm and wasn’t any higher than 5 feet tall. She had a skin tone and bone structure that suggested that she was Native American. 

What confused the two the most was the fact that she didn’t give off anything. No scent, no heartbeat, no aura. If they couldn’t see her then they wouldn’t think that she was there.

She smiled and walked further into the room, “Greetings Deaton! So assuming from the very vague and yet oddly telling message you need help. Right?” She set her bag on the table and lifted an eyebrow, “Because other than that I don’t know what you said.”

Scott gave a little smirk at the likeness of the witch to Stiles before clearing his throat, “We need help finding our friend, he was kidnapped by a witch three weeks ago.”

Aliyah’s eyes widened, “Three weeks?! Jeez, man I’m sorry but your friend is most likely dead.” She stepped back at the sudden growl from Derek. The brunette gave him an unimpressed look before turning back to Deaton, “Man, you know if she’s out draining then she’s not containing. That’s the deal with her type.”

She stopped talking when Deaton pulled out a book and let her read the same passage that he found before.

“No fucking way.”

“Language. And yes he is.”

“I’m not 7. I can say whatever the frick I want.”

Derek sighed in frustration, “So can you help us or not?”

Aliyah looked at Derek and studied him, “What’s it to you Mr. Wolf?” She knew she was goading him but the question still remained. Typically different supernaturals tended to avoid each other. Trust issues and all that jazz.

Derek stepped forward in anger but blinked when he was suddenly facing away from her. He turned and tried again but the same thing happened.

Scott bit his lip to keep from laughing at the wolf who was essentially storming in a circle.

Aliyah let a small smile rest on her face before stopping the enchantment, “If you don’t want that or something along the same lines happen again then answer my question please.”

Derek chose to glare at her, “Stiles is a part of my pack.”

Scott chimed in, “Our pack. He’s our friend and we really need to find him.” He didn’t feel any weakness in asking for help as Derek usually does and so his pleading tone was genuine. Plus, he knew that Deaton wouldn’t call in just any old witch to do this.

Aliyah studied both of them before nodding, “Okay, I’ll do what I can but he has to be the one to let me in,” she looked back at Deaton, “You know that.”

Deaton nodded and closed the book again.

Scott stepped forward and tapped Aliyah on her shoulder, “What is Stiles?” He had been curious ever since that day and Deaton wouldn’t give him a straight answer.

The girl rolled her eyes at the emissary before looking back to Scott, “I take it the Deats-”

“Don’t call me that.”

“-Didn’t give you the deats did he?” at Scott’s nod she sighed again, “Yeah, he’s always been like that, your friend Stiles?” She looked at them both for a confirmation on the name before continuing, “He’s a Changellor, it’s a kind of… mentalist?” Aliyah nodded to herself, “Yeah, a mentalist so that means that he’s pretty damn gifted with stuff having to do with the mind. Things like mind links, bending a person’s perception, stuff like that.”

Scott looked at her in confusion, “Bending a person’s perception?”

“What I did to Derek. He thought I was making him turn around magically but I just altered his point of view, hence the walking in circles.” She smiled at Derek’s growl and shrugged, “Hey you were gonna attack me.”

Scott smiled a little before asking another question, “Why can’t we sense that you’re there?” It was her turn to look puzzled, “I mean, we can’t hear your heartbeat or smell you or anything.”

“Oh, I’m masking everything. If this witch is as powerful as Deaton seems to think she is, I should take every precaution don’t you think?”

Scott nodded his understanding, “Makes sense.”

“Alrighty, so,” She clapped her hands together and rubbed them, “Let’s find us a changellor.”

~~~

Stiles awoke to a strange feeling. He didn’t open his eyes incase the evil one was present but became aware of what was happening. He could feel another’s magic reaching out for him.

The teenager shied away from it, keeping himself closed to it while he thought. The magic was calmer and smoother than what he was used to. It seemed to be generally interested in helping him. Stiles braced himself for disappointment when he opened himself up to the magic.

He didn’t know if this was a trap or not so he didn’t allow himself to get any hopes up.

Stiles let the magic link them up and hesitantly called out, ‘Hello?’

‘Sweet, you actually let me in! Hi Stiles, My name’s Aliyah and I’m here to get you out of there.’

Stiles was confused, ‘Wait, Derek trusted another witch?’

Aliyah laughed out loud and in her mind, ‘If Derek’s the growly one then no he really didn’t, Deaton and Scott did though.’

‘That explains that. How are you gonna help me?’

Aliyah grinned while in her meditative state, she was up on the examination table and the others were sitting around her watching just in case something happened.

Scott drummed his fingers on his arm from where they were crossed and chanced a glance at Derek who had been glaring at the witch for the entire time. He smiled to himself before clearing his throat and focusing back on Aliyah.

Derek’s eyes narrowed when he saw her smile, “What’s happening?” He asked towards Deaton but kept his eyes on her.

The vet looked up from his book and then back down to it, “It seems like she got through to him.”

Aliyah’s eyebrows furrowed slightly before smoothing back again, ‘So, do you know where you are at?’

Stiles sighed in his mind, ‘All I know is that when I escaped I managed to run far enough to get into the outskirts of the Hale property line. I have no idea how long I was running though. She’s got me messed up with some sort of candle.’

‘A candle? Is it giving you the side effects of being addicted to it?’

Stiles shifted on the mattress a little bit, ‘Yeah, how did you know?’

‘Shit. Well, when we get you out of there it’s not going to be fun on your part.’

The teen noticed that she had said ‘when’ and not ‘if’ ‘When can I expect visitors knocking at the door?’

It was her turn to sigh through the link, ‘If it won’t exhaust you too much, I can connect with you again when we are all out there and see if you can feel us?’

‘Okay, I don’t know how much Deaton told you about me but I’m not exactly trained?’ Stiles was worried that he wouldn’t be able to do what she was asking him to.

‘Don’t worry! I’ll guide you as best as I can through the process and tell you what you should be feeling. Until then I have to cut the link okay?’

Stiles was uneasy about being left alone again but clamped down his worry, she’d be back before he knew it, ‘Alright.’ He felt her sent some calming vibes through the link as if she felt his trepidations and cut the link.

And now all he had to do was wait.

___

Derek led the way through the woods where he had felt contact with Stiles. He hadn’t actually said anything to the witch since he was one to hold onto a grudge and let Scott converse with her. 

Everyone wanted to go with the small group. So Scott, Aliyah and Deaton walked just behind Derek, followed by Allison who was uneasy about the witch in the first place but was willing to give her a chance, and Jackson and Lydia brought up the rear.

He was worried. When Aliyah had come out of the state she was in and relayed the information about Stiles’ predicament, even Deaton was troubled.

One thing was for sure. Stiles was going to have to go through withdrawals once they got him back.

Deaton said that depending on the type of candle it could take 3 days to the same amount of time that Stiles had been inhaling it. Derek didn’t like either way.

He stopped at the clearing and crossed his arms, “This was where his scent had been before they disappeared.”

Aliyah nodded and brushed off one of the rocks before sitting on it, “I’m going to link up with him again, and just to warn you, you all might feel something strange.” She looked at each one of them, “You have to let it in. If you don’t then we might not be able to find him okay?” At everyone’s nods she closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

She opened the link and everything she felt was pain. With a grunt she fell forward and cut the connection. Aliyah gasped for a few seconds before punching the ground, “Shit!”

The collective group had reacted to her sudden fall and Derek felt something drop in his stomach, “What is it? What happened?!”

Deaton and Scott helped her back up and she held her head in her hands to get the memory of the pain to disappear, “He’s in a lot of pain right now. So much that it’s consumed him.”

Derek’s eyes flashed red, “What does that mean.”

Aliyah glanced up at him and then back to the ground, “Nothing good.” She thanked the two that helped her sit back down on the rock and rubbed her temple, “I’m going to try again so be ready just in case yeah?”

Deaton had a worried look in his eyes, “Are you sure?”

The witch shrugged and gave him a small smile, “I’m supposed to find him aren’t I? If I don’t do that, I’ve wasted a plane ticket.” She folded her hands in her lap and reached out again.

She felt the pain but was able to push through it since she knew what was happening this time. Aliyah sent waves of calmness and comforting through the link to help Stiles through the haze.

The boy had been curled up on his side. The evil one was currently taking a lot of his power again, but this time more forcefully. He could feel it being ripped from his spark violently and the fact that he was trying to fight back wasn’t helping.

He felt small feelings that weren’t his own and tried to clear his head, ‘…Aliyah?’ 

‘Hey Stiles, are you okay?’

‘Peachy. Please tell me you can get me out of here like now.’ Stiles winced at a sharper tug at his spark.

‘…is she syphoning your power?!’

‘You seem surprised. Why?’ He was busy concentrating on trying to keep his own power that he didn’t feel the other’s sudden anger before she clamped down on it.

‘No reason.’ Yeah right. ‘Anyway, I need you to reach out through our link and see if you can feel the others around me.’

Stiles let out a small laugh of disbelief, ‘Tall order for me right now.’

‘This is the only way we’re going to be able to find you.’

‘Well, shit.’

‘Yep. But don’t worry, I’ll help you the best that I can.’

Stiles felt the tight grip on his spark start to loosen. He sighed in relief before relaxing against the bed. Every single time that had happened he always wanted to pass out right after. But right now, he had a need to get out, ‘Okay, shoot. What am I looking for?’

___

Derek was frowning at the witch’s sudden spike of anger. He almost felt a small tremor on his spine from it before she had it reeled in. He was starting to think about the ‘what ifs’ of not finding Stiles in time when Deaton straightened and glanced away from Aliyah.

“It’s happening, try to let him in.”

Derek glanced back when Lydia gasped lightly and then back to Scott when he let out a surprised quiet laugh. He blinked when he felt something tickle at the edge of his senses and held down his want to shut out the feeling.

He allowed himself to be open and almost felt Stiles’s presence in the clearing.

Derek heard another grunt from Jackson and tried to concentrate on the feeling of Stiles. He wasn’t sure how the whole thing worked but he tried his best to communicate to the teenager, ‘Hold on. We’re on our way.’ He felt something warm in his chest before the feeling went away.

Derek blinked open his eyes and glance around, “Did it work?”

Aliyah’s eyes snapped open and she immediately stood, “He passed out.”

There was a chorus of angry words that no one seemed to realize was said before the witch held up one of her hands.

“Don’t worry; I was able to find out where he was.” She smiled at everyone and turned away, “Follow me.” The reason why she turned away was so that no one would see the smile slip off of her face. She was livid.

They continued walking for a while before Deaton suddenly stopped them, “There are wards along this place. If we cross this then she will know that we are here.”

Both Derek and Scott growled. Allison placed her hand on her boyfriend’s shoulder to calm him down.

Lydia was doing the same with Jackson.

Aliyah closed her eyed and sent a small warning to the still unconscious boy and took a deep breath, “We’re not going to be able to do anything else. So let’s get this over with shall we?” She glanced back at the rest of the group, getting a few nods before crossing over the line.

Without much thought, everyone broke into a run towards the house that was a little ways away. 

__

Stiles’s eyes snapped open when he heard a small crash and a curse. Something wasn’t right at all. He felt a small warning residue inside of his mind and realized that his friends were there. Stiles smiled and shakily tried getting to sit up.

He looked up when his door opened and glared from his position.

The evil one glared back, “I don’t know how they found us but if you think you’re going back then you’re sorely mistaken little kitten.” She crossed to him, grabbed his arm and forcefully took him from the room and outside. She held him in front of her on purpose as a shield and let herself grin when the group stopped and stared.

Stiles managed a small smile and winced when he was pushed to the ground. He looked back up and took in the group, they all looked great. Then again in comparison he probably looked like shit no matter what.

He really wanted a shower.

The teenager tried to get up but a foot on his back made sure that he didn’t. He heard a loud growl and glanced up to see who made the noise. A hint of surprise passed over his features when he saw that it was from Derek. A shorter girl placed her hand on his arm and stepped forward.

He guessed that this was Aliyah but he couldn’t sense any power from her. Actually he couldn’t sense anything from her. That was interesting.

The evil one’s eyes lit up with recognition, “Oh the honor. Hello there Ali. How have you been?”

The other witch stepped forward, ignoring the growls from Derek and kept her own voice even, “You know that it’s one of the cardinal rules that you cannot under any circumstances syphon magic from another by force. Let the boy go, Evelyn.”

Stiles felt the foot leave from his back and he felt Evelyn (nice to finally have a name.) move back away from him. He knew it couldn’t be that easy. He felt someone pick him up and drag him back to his group. Stiles looked up and smiled at Scott, “Hey buddy.” He whispered and patted his friend’s cheek.

Scott wrinkled his nose and squeezed Stiles against him, “You stink.”

Stiles chuckled and shrugged, “What can I say? Not the best hotel to stay at.”

Derek let his gaze linger on the teen before glancing back to the two witches. 

Evelyn tilted her head and quirked an eyebrow. She didn’t say anything but let her stance convey her lack of worry.

Aliyah let go of her protection charm, letting her power show and glared back at the elder quietly, “Why have you been killing fellow witches?”

The blonde just smirked back and shrugged, “You’re smart, what do you think?”

Aliyah didn’t answer, she knew that the person asking the questions was in charge of the conversation and she didn’t want to fall into the small trap of Evelyn’s. She knew why the witch was taking other’s powers she just needed someone else to hear it as well. She chanced a glance at Deaton who was watching Evelyn cautiously. 

Evelyn, still smirking pulled out a small knife.

Stiles shakily got to his feet. He had a really bad feeling for some reason.

Everyone in the area was tense. But they didn’t expect what happened next.

Evelyn stabbed herself in her side. She still had the smirk and it didn’t even seem like she was in pain.

Aliyah’s eyes widened in realization one millisecond before Jackson let out a grunt and fell to his knees.

He held his side where there was suddenly blood and looked up at the blonde, “What the fuck did you do to me?!” He didn’t pay Lydia much mind as she held her own hands above his own. It wasn’t healing.

Evelyn chuckled and twisted the knife, earning another grunt from Jackson, “Remember when you tried confronting me in a parking lot? I put a binding spell on us sweetie, I can kill you with just one flick of my wrist.” As if to demonstrate her point she twisted the knife again.

Stiles stepped forward, “Stop!” 

Evelyn turned her gaze to him and she just dug the knife in deeper, “It’s laced with wolfs bane, kitten, what are you going to do?” 

Stiles swallowed and looked back to Jackson who was trying his best not to cry out in pain. Lydia and Allison were next to him, the latter almost to tears.

Derek and Scott were in their beta forms growling at the evil witch but not moving just in case it spurred her to stab again. Aliyah looked torn between what to do.

Stiles stepped forward again and took a shaky breath, “Alright, leave him alone.” He guessed it was his turn to save Jackson anyways.

Evelyn telepathically pushed Aliyah back and put up a bubble again, “You know what I want.”

The brunette was pushed back forcefully enough to make her land on her back before getting up again.

Stiles was already inside of the bubble with Evelyn before Aliyah could do anything.

“No!” The witch ran forward and kicked at the bubble, “Shit!” She screamed at the bubble before taking a deep breath and pressing her hands against it. She gave Evelyn one last glare before closing her eyes.

Stiles placed another bubble around them when the evil one started chanting again to transport them. He smirked when she was shocked at the new development.

He felt her starting to syphon his power and clamped down on the pathway, “You’re not going to do that again.”

Evelyn glared and took out the knife, instead opting to try to drain Stiles entirely.

Deaton placed his hand on Aliyah’s shoulder before glancing back at the others.

The brunette opened her eyes again and started talking, “I need the alpha.”

Both Scott and Derek looked at each other and then back to her, “What do you mean?” Scott asked.

“I know you two are both alphas of the same pack, I need the higher up.”

Scott looked back to Derek and tilted his head in her direction. He rolled his eyes when Derek seemed genuinely surprised, “You’re more experienced remember?”

The older stepped forward and flinched back when Aliyah thrust her hand towards him, “I need your power.” Before he could start to get defensive she continued, “It’s for Stiles. I’m just acting as a sort of catalyst. It’s all going to him. And believe me he needs it.” 

Derek placed his hand in hers and immediately had to kneel from his sudden dizziness.

Aliyah glanced back at him with a playful smile, “Now, that’s interesting.” She faced back towards the bubble and set up a link with Stiles.

‘Giving you a boost. Don’t kill yourself with this.’

Stiles immediately felt the power fill his senses. He looked back to his friends and then quickly to Evelyn who had resorted to dirty witchcraft. 

She was trying to cut down his senses and trying sneak attacks with her magic. It was almost like a stinger in some places but Stiles was having none of it. After a few long minutes he realized something. 

It was all his magic. She didn’t have any of her own natural magic that he could find, it all had his distinct ‘brand’ on it. Realizing this he smiled. He figured that he could just take it back since it rightfully belonged to him in the first place.

He began to embrace her ‘stabs’ but as soon as they made contact he pulled them towards him.

Evelyn gasped before trying to pull back, “No! That’s impossible!”

Stiles ignored her; obviously it wasn’t since he was succeeding. He continued to pull until he couldn’t anymore. He opened his eyes, not knowing when he closed them and watched her fall to her knees, struggling to breathe.

He stopped quickly and looked back to Jackson to make sure he wasn’t dying as well. 

Seeing him gasping for breath as well, Stiles reached out and unthreaded her binding spell from him before going back to his original course. He pulled the last of his magic from her and let his bubble and hers disappear. Stiles let out an impressed noise at what he had done before falling backward. He was caught and the only thing that he knew was that whoever had caught him was warm before he let himself pass out.

___

Stiles was awake, he just couldn’t open his eyes. They were so heavy that he was content to just lay there and listen to the white noise in his room.

There wasn’t any heart monitor beeping or the overwhelming smell of clean so he knew he wasn’t in a hospital. He wasn’t sure how long he was lying there for but he was content to continue to be. He was exhausted and without the evil one’s little tether to him, Stiles could feel his energy coming back to him. 

Stiles felt sleep starting to pull him back when he heard footsteps approaching his room. He heard the person approach his side and creaking that he guessed was a chair.

There was a sigh and then Stiles felt a finger intertwine with his pinky finger. He wanted to smile but was still too tired to do anything. The young witch felt the small amount of soreness that he wasn’t even aware of dissipate and he knew whomever was at his side was of the wolfy kind.

Another hand started lightly stroking the back of his and it settled into a constant rhythm. 

Stiles fell into a light sleep but came back out of it when he heard voices.

“I’m guessing nothing’s changed.”

‘Deaton?’ Stiles had never heard that tone of voice before. It almost seemed sad.

‘How long are we going to wait? It’s already been three days and we don’t even know if he’s going to wake up.’

Ah, so the caring hand was Derek’s. Stiles noticed that the hand had never stopped its constant movement and filed that little piece of information away for later.

“He’s going to wake up.”

And there was the other girl. Aliyah. Her power was masked again.

“How do you know?”

Okay Derek and defeated do not go together at all. Stiles felt something pull at him and tried to open his eyes. When it didn’t work he tried moving but everything was lead.

“He just needs time to rest.” Footsteps. She was petting his hair now, “He’s been drained for so long and at a constant pace and then that fight that he put up at the end, he’s going to need the rest.” She sighed and took her hand away, “I’m still kind of in wonder at how he beat Evelyn though.”

“By all accounts it should have been impossible.”

Wow Deaton, way to show faith in your protégé. Stiles heard Derek sigh again and the hand stilled against his own. 

No. Don’t stop that. It felt nice.

…

Wait what?

“I guess that’s what happens when you’re not properly trained.” Aliyah moved away from Stiles and he heard the footsteps continue as she said, “I’m going out, I still haven’t really explored this town and it seems interesting.”

“Don’t go too far.” 

“I know.”

And then she was gone. He felt the hand that was resting on top of his move away and Stiles wanted to chase after it.

“I guess I should leave too.”

Stiles struggled with coming out of his self-paralysis. Sure he was fine when he woke up but he wanted someone with him now damn it!

He heard Deaton’s footsteps go away and out of the room and Derek stand from his chair. Stiles felt a hand rest on his head and the thumb rub softly against his forehead.

He really wanted to get up now. 

The hand left his head and he heard the footsteps walk away from him. Stiles managed a soft grunt.

He heard Derek stop and tried again. Stiles was able to lift a few of his fingers before giving up that task. His arm was way too heavy right now.

“Stiles?” Derek’s voice was right next to his ear. He felt his hand being held and squeezed lightly, “Come on Stiles, Wake up.”

He squeezed back Derek’s hand lightly and managed to lift one eyelid and then the other. Stiles opened his mouth and then shut it again. It was completely dry.

He tried to swallow but it didn’t do anything to help. 

Derek helped him sit up against the headboard before getting the glass of water from the bedside table, “Here.”

Stiles felt the lip of the glass nudge his lips and he took a small sip wincing as his body immediately demanded more, “Ugh.” He realized that he felt disgusting and closed his eyes again, “I need a shower.” His voice sounded grainy and deeper than he remembered.

Stiles felt Derek chuckle against him and let a small smile onto his own face.

He was home.

___

After a very long and much needed hot shower Stiles sat on Derek’s bed waiting for the other to get back. He wondered what sort of ‘surprise’ Derek was getting him.

While he waited he made up a mental list of what he needs to do. It included possibly another shower and seeing his dad. Wowzers he missed his dad.

Stiles noticed that his hand was trembling and sighed. It looked like the withdrawals were going to start showing up again. After he was awake for a while he was hit very badly with a major need for that damn candle. One second he was talking quietly with Derek and Scott a few minutes after he woke up and the next he had a headache and was shaking with the need to throw up.

It freaked them all out.

Scott called Deaton and both he and Aliyah came over as fast as they could while Derek tried taking the pain from him. He didn’t succeed as much as he wanted. Stiles’ headache went away but the need and trembling didn’t.

When Aliyah got there she knelt down and took his hand. She gave Stiles a small smile and made him share the withdrawal. 

It made it manageable.

“Call me when another one starts to happen again okay? These aren’t going to be normal withdrawals. They’re going to be sporadic.” She patted his hand and nodded at Derek, “I’ll be around for a while to help you out with any questions about anything.” 

Stiles noticed that her hand was slightly trembling and felt that the last statement wasn’t only to him, “Thanks Aliyah.”

“No problem!”

Stiles also noticed Deaton was super quiet during the encounter as well. He didn’t have the energy to ask about it though. The vet did say to take off the pendant that he had given him. 

Stiles figured it helped take some of the edge off of the withdrawals considering the whole ‘helping enhance his mental state’. As soon as he did he felt a bit better and so it sat on Derek’s dresser.

Stiles rubbed his temple when he felt pressure, knowing he didn’t have that much time before the attack hit him fully, he sent a text to Aliyah’s phone number.

He sighed again and lied down on the bed. Being magically exhausted was not a walk in the park. Stiles never realized how much of his magic tied into his everyday life. He felt like crap.

The front door opened and he let out a pitiful groan of not being able to go back to sleep but forgot about all of his aches when he looked to see who was frozen in the doorway.

“Dad.”

Like that was a magic word, the sheriff rushed into the room and embraced his son. Stiles was dimly aware that they both had tears running down their cheeks but he didn’t care. It felt amazing to see his dad.

“Magic Stiles. Really? Why couldn’t you be into drugs and alcohol like normal teenagers?” 

Stiles laughed at his dad’s fond/watery tone of voice and shook his head, “Then I wouldn’t be your kid.” He winced when he felt another sharp pain in his head, “Speaking of drugs though, did you know that there’s this addictive candle in magic land? And I may or may not have been subject to it for the past few weeks?”

The grip didn’t falter but there was a light head slap, “Only you.”

“Actually sir, he wasn’t the first one to be subject to that treatment.”

They both looked up from their embrace, Stiles smiled when he saw the girl, “Hey Aliyah.” He noticed Derek standing to the side, glaring at her but didn’t say anything.

The sheriff broke the embrace but stayed on the bed with his arm still around Stiles, “I don’t believe we’ve met.”

Aliyah nodded and set her bag down, just out of the way of the door, “I’m a witch that was called in to help find Stiles.” She walked over and sat on the other side of Stiles. Aliyah gently took his hand and closed her eyes.

Stiles sighed in contentment when the withdrawal lessened, “She’s helping me out with the candle business.” He noticed the expression on his father’s face and leaned into him, “It’s nothing big, just withdrawals. She said they’ll go away soon.”

“I’m going to make something to eat.” 

The sheriff and Stiles blinked at Derek only just remembering that he was there, “Thanks Derek!”

“I’m assuming you have a lot of questions sheriff.” Aliyah said from her side of Stiles with her eyes still closed.

The sheriff sighed and squeezed Stiles again, “A lot doesn’t begin to cover it.”

¬¬¬___

After the most amazing grilled cheeses ever and another withdrawing withdrawal session both the Sheriff and Aliyah were leaving. The sheriff on his way to the station and Aliyah to wherever she ends up going. Stiles opted to stay with Derek since his dad was going to work and he didn’t want to be alone.

“I’m only guessing that you listened in on the whole question stuff?”

He noticed the slight falter in Derek’s step and grinned to himself, “It’s alright. I gave the pack a scare. You’re just checking up on me.” He was sitting on the couch watching Derek put away dishes.

Stiles let the apartment be quiet for a while before talking again. “Why don’t you like Aliyah?”

Derek stopped moving and shook his head, “I don’t trust her.”

“But why?” 

He looked back to the teen and then out of his window, “Various reasons.”

Stiles rolled his eyes and made a gesture, “Such as….” This deflecting bull has got to stop. Especially if they wanted to get any further in their relationship.

Wait. Stop. Halt. Where the fuck did that come from.

Unaware of Stiles sudden screech of thought process, Derek just crossed his arms, “She put back up her barrier as soon as you were safe again.” It had been bugging him.

Stiles compartmentalized his thoughts and got back to the conversation, “So?” She saved his life. What more does she have to do to gain Derek’s trust?

“She’s hiding something.”

__

Aliyah was sitting in Deaton’s office as the vet worked on a patient. The little terrier had a broken bone in his leg. She kicked her feet back and forth, content to just watch him do his thing when he glanced up at her, “You’re going to have to go back soon.”

She locked eyes with him for a few moments before looking to the floor and nodded, “I can’t until Stiles is better though.”

Deaton quirked one of his eyebrows, “You can leave whenever you want. He would just have to go through the withdrawals by himself but he will get better.” He wrapped up the paw and carefully placed the dog in his cage, “I know that you’re not doing yourself any favors by experiencing them either.” He said nodding to her hand that was trembling.

Aliyah held onto her own hand and tucked them between her legs, “I’m not going to go back to being addicted again if that’s what you’re wondering.” She said sourly, “I’m never going back to that.”

Deaton leaned against his table and crossed his arms like a disappointed father, “And yet here you are, going through withdrawals.”

Aliyah glared at him, “I’m helping Stiles. That’s it. That’s all this is.”

He nodded and turned back to his cupboard, “Whatever you say Aliyah. Just be careful. And remember that they’ll come looking for you soon.”

The girl sank in her seat, “What if I don’t want to go back?” she whispered. Aliyah closed her eyes when Deaton looked back at her in surprise. She didn’t need to see his judgment.

“Many witches have sought after you’re position Aliyah. You’ve worked hard to get it and you are the best for the job.”

She snorted and shook her head, “It’s politics and stupid people. I may be good at it but it doesn’t mean I like it.” She sighed, “But I know that I have to go back. I have to make sure that the corruption doesn’t spread.” She felt a hand on her shoulder and looked up at Deaton, “But I’m still staying here until Stiles is better.”

Deaton nodded and patted her shoulder, “I hope you know what you’re doing.”

Aliyah smiled and closed her eyes, “I do too.”

**Author's Note:**

> First work in the Coming Into His Own series. Keep a look out for more additions!


End file.
